Computer operating systems include a large number of parameters, many of which may be queried, controlled, and changed in order to alter the characteristics of the computer system. Similarly, software applications running on computer systems also often include a large number of parameters, many of which may be controlled and changed to alter the characteristics of the application running on the computer system. As an example, in Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, the resolution and color characteristics of the computer system's display may be changed by selecting the "Control Panel" icon from a "Settings" menu item. When the control panel is displayed, a user is presented with a set of new icons, one of which ("Display Properties") may be selected to bring up another panel containing a set of tabs. The "Settings" tab on the "Display Properties" panel may be selected which allows a user to manually change the number of colors, resolution, video refresh rate, font size, and related graphical characteristics. The user specifies the refresh frequency by selecting from a pull-down menu list of available settings (e.g. 60 Hz, 70 Hz, etc.). The user can specify the screen resolution by selecting a slider icon and moving it right or left to increase or decrease the screen resolution (e.g., from 1024.times.1280 pixels to 600.times.800 pixels). Some of these settings may affect the performance of applications running on the system. For example, decreasing the color resolution and screen resolution may increase the speed of some graphics applications.
This example focuses on system settings. When one also considers the numerous application settings and various different hardware configurations available to users, and the interaction of all of these settings and configurations, the control accessing of the plurality of settings and configurations can be cumbersome and often requires detailed knowledge on the part of computer users. The need for a dynamic, semi-automatic, consolidated, and rule-based system that changes such settings and other aspects of the computer system, and makes recommendations, becomes apparent. Although many graphical user interfaces exist to control various aspects of the system (such as the graphical slider which controls screen resolution for Windows platforms) and in applications, the need for improved graphical user interfaces becomes apparent as computer systems become more complex.
With reference now to the figures and in particular to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a computer system in accordance with the method and system of the present invention. Typically the computer system 12 includes a computer 36, a computer display 38, a keyboard 40, and multiple input pointing devices 42. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that input pointing devices may be implemented utilizing a pointing stick 44, a mouse 46, a track ball 48, a pen 50, display screen 52 (e.g. a touch display screen 52), or any other device that permits a user to manipulate objects, icons, and other display items in a graphical manner on the computer display 38. Connected to the computer system may also be audio speakers 54 and/or audio input devices 51. (See for example, IBM's VoiceType Dictation system. "VoiceType" is a trademark of the IBM Corporation.) A graphical user interface may be displayed on screen 52 and manipulated using any input pointing device 42. This graphical user interface may include display of an application 60 that displays information pages 62 using any known browser. The information pages may include graphical, audio, or text information 67 presented to the user via the display screen 52, speakers 54, or other output device. The information pages may contain selectable links 66 to other information pages, where such links can be activated by one of the input devices, like mouse 46, to request the associated information pages. This hardware is well known in the art and is also used in conjunction with televisions ("web TV") and multimedia entertainment centers. The system 12 contains one or more memories (See 65 of FIG. 2.) where a remote computer 130, connected to the system 12 through a network 110, can send information. Here the network can be any known (public or privately available) local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet. The display may be controlled by a graphics adaptor card such as an Intergraph Intense 3D,
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) provide ways for users of computers and other devices to effectively communicate with the computer. In GUIs, available applications and data sets are often represented by icons 63 consisting of small graphical representations which can be selected by a user and moved on the screen. The data sets (including pages of information) and applications may reside on the local computer or on a remote computer accessed over a network. The selection of icons often takes the place of typing in a command using a keyboard in order to initiate a program or access a data set. In general, icons are tiny on-screen symbols that simplify access to a program, command, or data file. Icons are often activated or selected by moving a mouse-controlled cursor onto the icon and pressing one or more times on a mouse button.
GUIs include graphical images on computer monitors and often consist of both icons and windows. (GUIs may also reside on the screens of televisions, kiosks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), automatic teller machines (ATMs), and on other devices and appliances such as ovens, cameras, video recorders and instrument consoles.) A computer window is a portion of the graphical image that appears on the monitor and is dedicated to some specific purpose. Windows allow the user to treat the graphical images on the computer monitor like a desktop where various files can remain open simultaneously. The user can control the size, shape, and position of the windows.
Although the use of GUIs with icons usually simplifies a user's interactions with a computer, GUIs are often tedious and frustrating to use. Icons must be maintained in a logical manner. It is difficult to organize windows and icons when many are similarly displayed at the same time on a single device.
In a drag-and-drop GUI, icons are selected 64 and moved 68 (i.e. "dragged") to a target icon 69 to achieve a desired effect. For example, an icon representing a computer file stored on disk may be dragged over an icon containing an image of a printer in order to print the file, or dragged over an icon of a trash can to delete the file. An icon representing a page of information on the World Wide Web may be selected and dragged to a trash can to delete the link to the page of information. The page of information may be on the local machine or on a remote machine. A typical user's screen contains many icons, and only a subset of them will at any one time be valid, useful targets for a selected icon. For example, it would not be useful to drag the icon representing a data file on top of an icon whose only purpose is to access an unrelated multimedia application.
Icons 63 could include static or animated graphics, text, multimedia presentations, and windows displaying TV broadcasts. Icons 63 could also include three dimensional images, for example, those used in virtual reality applications.